Hm. You never which "button" will open the door... but I think it helps to question the GB/FDS, because then everything else seems to fall down after that.
You might ask them, which is "inspired", the Bible or the Watchtower? Why is there so much emphasis on placing the WT magazine (it is published in WAY more languages than the Bible, but I don't know the current figures)...? On the Field Service Report, there are spaces to fill in for placements: books, brochures, etc., but there is NO SPACE on that form for BIBLES! (Shouldn't the word of God take precedence over the WT literature? -- of course, a JW will say that there is no understanding the Bible without their literature, but *why* should there be such a torrent of WT literature? If the truth is simple and basic, why does the WTBTS pump out reams and reams of paper and publications month after month, year after year? Could they possible be a PUBLISHING COMPANY...?)
Why are there always deficits at every assembly and convention? Why are KHs not allowed to save any donations beyond the amount stipulated by the society? Is it because the WTBTS is also a REAL ESTATE development company....?
The WTBTS collects MILLIONS (almost or just over a billion now) dollars every YEAR from donations, wills, property, stocks, bonds, hedge funds, investments, real estate, etc. yet they do NO charitable works? The *only* approved-by-the-Society charitable work is "the preaching work", which consists of trying to place the Society's literature every month.
They need to keep the preaching work at the forefront because it is the ONLY action which maintains their religious (read: tax-free) status. This despite reports and comments and experience that hardly anybody is made a convert through the door-to-door work.
You can compare the WTBTS to a multi-level marketing company. They have "sales/motivational" meetings weekly to pump up their sales force for placing more product. Like Amway, people's garages and basements fill up with product they can't sell/place. How many JWs do you know who sheepishly admit that they have tons and tons of literature stored away...? And they are too embarrassed to return it to the KHs for shipment elsewhere or "where the need is great."
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I don't know if any words like this might get a JW thinking. You might ask them why is there no transparency regarding financial statements to the rank and file members of the organization? You are supposed to trust (implicitly) the rulings and decisions of EIGHT men in New York, whose names most JWs don't even know. They know nothing of these men or their credentials, yet make life-changing (even life and death!) decisions based on the edicts and decisions of these men. They *trust* (blindly?) that these eight men have God's spirit and direct his "earthly, visible organzation".... but if that were so, why do their decisions keep changing? Why do we continually receive "new light" which in some cases totally contradicts "old light"...?
Does this not show that man is leading man... to his detriment? When a JW uses scriptures which say, "Do not put your trust in nobles, nor in the son of earthing man, to WHOM NO SALVATION BELONGS..." (Psalm 146), do we add an addendum to verses such as: "... except for the 8 men in Brooklyn, New York, whom God has appointed..." ??
What about the scripture in Acts: "We must obey God as ruler rather than men." (... addendum: "... except for the 8 men in Brooklyn, New York, whom God has appointed...") (whom God has appointed by some mysterious process which no rank and file member knows?)
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Ask a JW to read the bible book of GALATIANS. Paul did NOT go up to Jerusalem after his conversion (on the road to Damascus) for 3 YEARS, stayed only for 2 weeks, then went off again for another 14 years before visiting Jerusalem again. He is quick to say he was NOT following any man or group of men, nor was he taught by any man or group of men!!
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Oh boy, I could go on and on... But maybe you could ask a JW to explain how the WBTS could be involved with the United Nations for 10 YEARS (secretly)... from 1991 (when they first applied) (and were accepted in 1992) to 2001 (when discovered).
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You could ask why the Judicial Committees are held in secret ("star-secret chambers") when the organization itself says that one of the reasons there was fair justice in the nation of Israel was that problems or issues with people were dealt with PUBLICLY... and that people should ever-more shun family members based on a secret discussion (of which nobody knows) with three elders and their resultant judgment ? Nobody knows what was discussed, yet all again have to trust (blindly? implicitly?) in the rulings of these men.
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You could ask why there are different levels, or tiers, of brothers in the organization, complete with special (secret) books and manuals when Jesus has told us that no one should be our ruler, that only Christ is our head or ruler. Why are there THOUSANDS of special little laws and rulings in these books and manuals when Jesus told us that we are under only the law of LOVE...?
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You could ask them how they teach little children to love God... do they do so with love and compassion in mind, or might they use a combination of FEAR and GUILT? Ask them to look at the literature for little children, kids who don't even know how to read. Ask the JW to look at the book, "MY BOOK OF BIBLE STORIES" from a small child's point of view. Ask them to figure out, from the pictures only, who are the "bad guys" and who are the "good guys".... Ask if a little child could easily figure this out or process these violent and very frightening images. Is this suitable viewing material for a little child...? Would it make them love God? Would it help little children draw close to God and feel like he really cares about them and loves them?
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Oh yes, I could go on and on. But maybe some of this will suffice for now.
